


Compared to What

by Eminda



Series: Like in legends, bloody heroes [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Existential Angst, Existential Crisis, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-28 19:30:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13278348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eminda/pseuds/Eminda
Summary: Side-stories to 'Sometimes..' where the travellers deal with their past selves. I mentioned that they don't remember anything, but that doesn't mean nothing happened.I'm pretty sure none of this will make any sense outside the premise of the main fic, beware.





	Compared to What

It would probably surprise  _ nobody  _ that Neji hated seals. His avoidance went as far as him completely ignoring his clan’s numerous summon scrolls, which he could access at any time. He used sealing scrolls and exploding tags only as a necessity and preferred to delegate as much as possible to Tenten. As such, when he saw the Rokudaime’s creation Neji’s first thought was ‘ _ What a monstrosity’ _ . In his slightly addled state he lunged forward and was immediately sucked into the seal. The thing was so  _ vast  _ that he wasn’t even ashamed to admit that he was terrified out of his mind. 

The space and matter around him disintegrated and became nil, somehow conveying the impression of brightness right into Neji’s brain, Neji’s genius brain that sadly had the capacity to analyze and ask questions like ‘If the matter disappeared did the matter I’m made of also disappear?’. At the moment, at the time he didn’t even think about the Hokage, who started all this, about Hinata-sama, who would undoubtedly follow her fellow clan member and her leader into any kind of peril, about Kakashi-san or Sai, who could never be accused of being disloyal. Neji wanted the brightness to stop. 

 

And stop it did, after endless heartbeats of nothingness almost consumed his sanity and Neji thought he was imagining things. His clan’s gates. 

He sagged in relief as he felt his legs move, heard the footsteps form and saw the details draw themselves the nearer he got. 

Beyond the gates everything was bleak and gray, windows torn open and doors hanging as if thrown open by a hurricane. 

Neji ducked when two birds flew past him and into a house that looked like a beaten down version of his childhood one. About two dozen more birds were circling the dilapidated thing, flying high and ducking down but never touching the roof. Despite the grave situation he was in, Neji found time and mind to raise an eyebrow at his own dramatics. He doubted the image was of anyone else’s creation and now, slowly coming to himself he tried to deduce what was the seal supposed to do that Naruto looked so torn about. Was it about confronting childhood depression? Neji hoped he was past that.

Someone was mumbling inside. Neji frowned and got closer, carefully keeping his steps silent; mumbling was more of a muttering, an angry voice stringing together vile poison all the while sounding at the verge of tears. 

Neji blinked and stepped inside, dumbfounded, looking at the small, huddled version of himself that he had so long not felt like. 

The boy looked up and his angry and tear-streaked face lit up, as if Neji was the best thing in the world. Which was ridiculous, the only one he hated more than Hinata-sama at that age was himself. 

“Father!” The boy sobbed and Neji felt his heart constrict. He was said numerous times to be almost the exact copy of his father (and, disturbingly but logically, of Hiashi-sama), but he didn’t need his subconscious to play at that. He hated seals. 

“I’m not your father.” Neji said sternly; he preferred to not coddle himself. “I’m yourself and I’m twenty five.”

The boy scoffed but didn’t manage to conceal his interest, his eyes greedily raking up and down Neji’s form, and frankly, that was a tad unnerving. 

“Right. And why are you here? Is that an ANBU mask?”

Neji smirked and took his mask off his forehead, exposing the annulled seal. 

_ (Hinata-sama’s hands had been red with their mixed blood, Naruto and Kakashi-san equally pale as they had been cradling Neji’s head and guiding the Clan Head through the steps under the Elders’ disapproving glares) _

The boy gasped and recoiled, craning his neck forward at the same time. 

“I’m here because the Rokudaime likes to experiment without consulting anyone. Yes, that is an ANBU mask.” He kept his voice even as he handled the mask to the boy and smiled more. “The seal was killed and annulled by the Rokudaime and Hinata-sama sometime after my twentieth birthday. Any more questions?”

Neji could admit it was amusing and novel, talking to his early, embittered memories and seeing the way he had changed, the path he had taken. 

“Hinata-sama.” The boy scoffed with genuine, strong derision. “What was she doing, stuttering?” 

Neji scowled, because that was not something he enjoyed remembering and certainly not so vividly. 

“I will not be talking about Hinata-sama.” He decided and ignored the boy’s half triumphant half bitter expression. “I don’t know why I am here and I need to get out.”

The boy kept silent as Neji decisively walked out, where there was nothing. 

He blinked at the grayness surrounding him and clouding his vision. The only thing that remained vivid was the house behind him and more angry mutterings carrying in the unnatural stillness. 

Scoffing, cross, he turned around and walked inside; he was going to make Naruto’s life  _ unbearable  _ for that. 

The brat looked up, scowling, gloating, scared and Neji momentarily felt pity, but mostly he was aggravated and a little scared. He needed to go back and learn what predicament their Hokage managed to land them into. 

They were both silent for a while, then even the walls started to dissolve, and soon the only real thing was his younger self in front of Neji, looking back with far too solemn and exhausted eyes. 

He sighed and stepped forward, and then-

Then he was bitter, lonely and so unimaginably angry, hate curling in his stomach and the seal burning in his head, always, silent. He remembered each glance and each word and hated them all, hated himself most of all and hated the knowledge that even his death was not for him to decide. 

Neji gasped, stumbled and fell into the bright void, blinded and deafened by the memories kept afloat by a wisp of a thought.

_ “Neji-nii-san!”  _ He heard and latched on it, on the familiar lilt and cadence.

 

He opened his eyes to Hinata’s worried, pale face and strangely depleted chakra. The body was disobeying even the simplest orders so Neji settled back and looked up at the Clan Head, frowning as he tried to recognize what was wrong. 

“Nii-san.” Hinata-sama repeated, this time lower and calmer. Her eyes looked huge in the predawn light. “I’m afraid Naruto-san has done something impossible.”

Neji fully intended to retort that that seemed like a commonplace occurrence with their Hokage, but Hinata’s urging eyes made him silent. 

“The seal- I don’t understand yet how it works, but it reacted to chakra. You’ve leapt so suddenly, nii-san.” She looked at him, slightly bashful, as if Neji’s mad dash was somehow her fault. “I saw Kakashi-san follow and I’m pretty sure that we weren’t the only ones.”

Hinata paused, obviously collecting herself. It’d been so long since Neji saw his cousin this unsure and shaken. 

“The basics I understood, Neji-nii. It rejects the body, and in destroying it uses the released energy to send the mind-”

She stumbled again. “I’m eleven, Neji-nii.”

_ That  _ had Neji bolting up quickly; now he saw that what he read as Hinata’s vulnerability was actually her extremely young-looking face, round cheeks and yet soft line of mouth. 

“I’ve left a shadow clone in my bed and concealed myself as well as I was able to.” Hinata-sama went on, baring her wrists and throat, adorned with repelling and concealing seals. “Are you alright?”

Neji collected himself and looked at the Clan Head properly, cataloguing the signs of visible distress (very few) and possible injuries (aside from astonishingly bad posture which he had forgotten about, Hinata-sama looked well). The stress of the news had wiped the remnants of his hazy dream away and he fully focused on the task at hand. 

“We need to find Naruto.”

Hinata-sama nodded, fishing a chakra paper with a ready seal on it and quickly slappin it on Neji's jugular. “We do. Are you well enough for a clone?” She didn’t apologize for almost grabbing at his throat, despite the knowledge that Neji abhorred any seal on his person; and he appreciated it, the needs far outweighed any possible protest. 

His chakra levels and control felt abysmal. Neji almost staggered when creating a clone and Hinata, pale and slightly drawn, stumbled under his weight. 

They managed to sneak out almost embarrassingly quickly, although to be fair they had the knowledge of the grounds, patrols and advanced genjutsu spells. 

“I didn’t realize at first.” Hinata-sama began when they walked far enough from the compound; Neji was thankful his ANBU position required him to know everything possible about the Hokage, including all of his occupations. “I woke up and thought Ino-san had spiked my drink again.” She smiled slightly, the mature expression making her round face a caricature on itself. “And then, when my Byakugan managed to encircle only about ten meters I started to remember. Then I went to find you.” 

Neji smiled at her, still shorter and still stronger than anyone could expect. 

Together, they went after the Hokage. 

As it had been, was and would be. 


End file.
